why certain foods cause rosacea flare ups

I am a 57 year old female diagnosed last year with rosacea.  I only have the pimple-like type, no red face -- although my mother and my grandfather both had the red face type (they were not diagnosed, but I presume that was what they had).  I usually have these bumps on my chin and occasionally on the side of the nose.  Before I started treatment I was getting them on the forehead. I am using the metro cream.  

I noticed that when I drank red wine -- one glass a day -- I got a flare up When I did NOT drink red wine (I started drinking beer), I got no rosacea.  

Becoming tired of beer (1 or 2 bottles a day), I switched to 2 1/2 table spoons of brown rum in a diet coke.  The rosacea came back immediately.  I switched to white run and it went away (white wine also does not cause rosacea).

By the way, Metro cream does not end the rosacea.  It helps the current flareups, but as long as I am drinking the dark rum or the red wine, they keep coming.


What does red wine and dark rum have in common that these others do not have? I read that red wine has prostaglandins and some think this causes the red wine headache (I do not have that).

Any insight on this?

Also if I continue to drink red wine, is there any way to prevent a flareup before it starts?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Red wine (along with caffeine, spices, and hot liquids) often causes red flareups.  None of these commonly cause flares of pimples.  I am therefore unable to explain your observation.  What I always tell patients who notice correlations with foods is to follow their experience and avoid eating what bothers them.  There are other topical treatments for rosacea, including sulfacetamide and azelaic acid.  Perhaps your doctor can have you try those to see whether suppress outbreaks better, even if you drink red wine, etc.  But overall, most rosacea patients can eat and drink as they please without worsening.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff